By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) is saying that Golden Boy Promotions offered him a title defense against WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner in June in a fight that would take place at welterweight.
Malignaggi says he’s interested in the fight, but the World Boxing Association has already ordered him to defend his WBA title against Diego Chaves in a fight that could possibly take place in Abu Dhabi for some reason. Why Malingaggi, an American citizen, would fight there is anyone’s guess.
Malignaggi told RingTV “[I received an e-mail] to my team the other night and it said it came from Richard Schaefer [the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions] about fighting Adrien Broner. I think that Adrien Broner is a very talented guy, but it’s a winnable fight for me…I told Richard if the fight in Abu Dhabi doesn’t work out then I’ll take the fight with Broner.”
Broner would have to move up a little bit of weight from 135 to 147, but he’s already fighting in the upper 140s at lightweight after rehydrates for his fights, so it’s not going to be difficult for him to fight at that weight. Malignaggi doesn’t rehydrate into the 160s like some welterweights do, so it’s not a fight where Broner would be giving up any weight in making the fight.
Malignaggi is a good fighter, but I’m not sure if you can call this a winnable fight for him. At this point in Malignaggi’s career his jab is his main weapon and that’s probably not going to be enough to beat a fighter like Broner, who will walk Malignaggi down all night and unload on him with power shots.
This is a win-win situation for both Broner and Malignaggi because both fighters well get a lot of publicity for this fight, and if Broner wins, he’ll capture Malignaggi’s WBA welterweight title. Broner would immediately be in the division where he stands to make a lot of money. Whether he’s ready to fight welterweights is another matter altogether, but it’s a good fight if Malignaggi says yes to it.
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